Smuggler awarded €39,000 over assault by FG senator facing massive legal bill

This week, Breen White partially won his case against the Co Louth politician for assault and battery after he claimed he was attacked outside the Rum House pub in Dundalk in 2018.

At the time the row occurred, Breen was a target for the Criminal Assets Bureau – who seized €300,000 in bundles of cash from his palatial pad in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.

Despite McGahon’s claims he had acted in self-defence, the jury found Breen had been assaulted but apportioned blame at 65pc against the Fine Gael senator and 35pc against Mr White.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens, who presided over the four-day trial, gave a decree for €39,000 against Mr McGahon.

However, the Sunday World can reveal Breen could still be hit with a huge costs order for the case – as the award did not hit the €75,000 threshold for a High Court action.

Due to the fact he was held 35 percent responsible, Breen is likely to have to pay far more in legal fees than the €39,000 he was awarded.

A source said: “He is almost certain to be hit with a huge costs order on Tuesday. The threshold for a High Court damages case is a €75k minimum, and because White did not hit it, he will probably be liable for a lot of the costs.”

It is not the first time Breen’s name has been heard in the High Court in connection with huge sums of money.

In 2018, Breen handed over more than €500,000 to the CAB after they took a Proceeds of Crime case against him following a major operation targeting smuggling in the border area.

Gardaí believe the importation of huge shipments of cigarettes from Asia have turned a number of smugglers with links to ex-IRA members into multi-millionaires.

The counterfeit trade costs the Irish taxpayer up to €600m in lost revenue annually, and a further £3.5bn to the UK.

The Bureau took the case against Breen after bagloads of cash stashed in a van in one of his sheds was discovered during a raid on his home.

Breen lives in a palatial pad in Castleblayney surrounded by security fencing and with its own airplane landing strip.

CAB moved in on White after a suspicious transaction of money from Hong Kong led them to his door.

During the course of their searches, officers found bags of money stashed in a van in one of the sheds. In one bag they found stg£192,750, and in another €80,458.

Both were wrapped with elastic bands and stashed in black bin liners.

At the time officers suspected that the money – just short of €300,000 – could represent just one week’s turnover for the cigarette-smuggling gang.

In December 2014, a sum of €240,000 was moved between a bank account in Hong Kong and a company bank account in the name ‘De Faoite Management Ltd’ – one of whose director was Breen White.

The company, registered at the luxury home at Drumgarra, Castleblayney, purported to be a property letting company, but CAB believed it was used by the smuggling gang to legitimise their funds.

According to documents put before the courts by the CAB, a number of Mutual Legal Assistance requests were furnished to the Hong Kong authorities relating to bank accounts, which revealed that hundreds of thousands of euro was moved by a businessman in the border region through accounts there.

The documents also claimed some of the funds were transferred to a commodities company which sold cigarettes, while other funds were transferred back to White’s company bank account for ‘De Faoite Management Ltd’ in Dublin, on the pretence that it was to be used to purchase property.

During the course of their search at the Drumgarra mansion, CAB officers discovered a cash-counting machine, along with a notebook containing encrypted accounts linked to the smuggled-cigarette trade.

As a result of the analysis of those accounts, the Bureau said they were able to link the cash seized in the shed to the sale of illicit cigarettes.

None of the matters were disputed by White, who consented to the court order.

This week award of €39,000 has brought to an end two years of legal issues following the fight outside the Dundalk pub.

In 2022, Mr McGahon, Faughart Gardens, Dundalk, was cleared by a Circuit Court jury on a charge of assault causing harm to Mr White over the incident.

The court heard the case arose after 31-year-old McGahon put his arm around White’s wife Linda when she and her husband were leaving the Rum House pub and restaurant in 2018.

In evidence, White said he had told McGahon to leave his wife alone before finding himself on the ground, “getting knocks and bangs about the head”.

During the trial a jury was shown CCTV from the night, and heard White told a doctor he had been assaulted by four people and was kicked and punched.

However, a garda said that while McGahon was intoxicated, he wasn’t detained, and four months later said that putting his arm around Breen’s wife was totally innocent and friendly.

The Senator said he had offered an apology to the couple on the night but that Breen had become aggressive and lunged at him, but fell on the ground.

After the case, McGahon said he was “extremely relieved” and was looking forward to getting back to his political duties.

However, a civil case was then launched by White seeking damages in connection with the assault.

The jury, after just under three-and-a-quarter hours, found he had been assaulted, awarded a total of €60,000, including €10,000 for aggravated damages, and apportioned blame at 65pc against Mr McGahon and 35pc against Mr White.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens, who presided over the four-day trial, gave a decree for €39,000 against Mr McGahon.

He thanked and discharged the jury and exempted them from service for nine years.